Figures released Tuesday show Pittsburgh police lost more officers in 2024 than they have in at least 12 years, triggering calls from elected leaders and public-safety watchdogs to stem a staffing crisis that’s also playing out in police departments nationwide. In 2024, a total of 103 sworn officers left the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, according to Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 1, the union representing Pittsburgh police’s rank and file. Of the 103, 66 officers retired and 36 — including 12 police recruits — resigned, union President Robert Swartzwelder told TribLive.
One officer died this year. “We’re in trouble,” Swartzwelder said. “We’re just waiting for the levee to break.
” It remained unclear Tuesday whether the 2024 tally topped 2023’s single-year loss of 102 officers. If accurate, the bureau has lost more than one-quarter of its police headcount in just two years. “It’s becoming a small-town police department with big-city problems we can’t fix,” said Elizabeth Pittinger, executive director of the Pittsburgh Citizen Police Review Board.
“We’ve had such chaos in Pittsburgh.” Pittsburgh police leadership said the force’s roll call of full-time officers stood at 712 on Tuesday. Additionally, 49 recruits currently are training in the police academy.
Police pension officials were not available to confirm any staffing figures. The pension board’s ninth-floor office in the City-County Building was dark Tuesday. Pension officials did .